health

LINCOLN – On Friday, Governor Pete Ricketts, Nebraska Department of Education Commissioner Matt Blomstedt, education leaders, and the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce & Industry will host a press conference. Gov. Ricketts and education leaders will announce the guidance they will use for school closures. Additionally, leaders will make remarks on how the Nebraska business community is preparing for the coronavirus pandemic.

The boom of boutique fitness in America would likely not exist without a young girl from rural Iowa. In this episode, we get into the Midwestern origins of Jazzercise with founder and CEO, Judi Sheppard Missett. Then we discuss the changing face and message of “female fitness” today. Join us as we talk about the hormonal, skeletal, and social structures that makes working out different across genders and sexes.

(Lincoln, NE) -- A new vaping ordinance is approved in Lincoln. The Lincoln City Council approved an ordinance yesterday banning vaping at restaurants, bars and businesses. The same restrictions currently apply to cigarettes. Several Lincoln and Lancaster County health officials testified last week in favor of the change.

Kiewit Middle School sent a letter this morning to parents reporting that a student at the school has been diagnosed with pertussis, also known as whooping cough. The school included information on whooping cough and the diagnosed student's schedule in the letter. They also alerted families that if they receive a second email then their student shared a classroom with the impacted one.

Kiewit Middle School urges families of those who shared a classroom with the sick student to watch for signs of a cough or persistent cold and then take their child the doctor immediately.

If you are a parent of a student and did not receive a second email then your child did not share a classroom with this student.

The content of the letter is posted below:

Dear Kiewit Families,

I want to share that unfortunately one of our students has been diagnosed with pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough. We wish the student a speedy recovery!

As we always do, we have shared this information, along with the student's schedule, with the Douglas County Health Department. They will direct us to send a letter to families of students who may have been exposed. If those students develop a persistent cough or cold, they should be seen by a doctor.

We also want to inform the school community, so everyone is aware. I'm including information on whooping cough. Families that have a student that may have shared a classroom with this student will receive another email from IC Messenger message with signs to look for. If you do not receive a second email. your student did not share a classroom with this student.

Please reach out to our school nurse if you have any questions at 402-715-1470.

(Omaha, NE) -- The Douglas County Health Department is encouraging people to prepare for flu season by getting a flu shot. Health department officials say nearly 38-hundred cases were reported in the county during the last flu season. Douglas County residents are being urged to get vaccinated by the end of October.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The University of Nebraska-Lincoln says one student has been diagnosed with the mumps and another student is showing symptoms of the contagious disease.

The Daily Nebraskan reports that the university announced the mumps diagnosis Wednesday.

The university says both students live off campus and are being isolated to try to prevent the disease from spreading. The university recommends in its statement that all students take pro-active measures, such as washing hands, covering coughs and avoiding others if they are sick.

(Grand Island, NE) -- Starting on Wednesday, vaping is not allowed in public spaces in Grand Island. The ban was recently approved unanimously by the Grand Island City Council. Violators can face fines up to five-hundred dollars. There is growing concern about the effects of vaping after a number of reports of mystery lung diseases that officials believe are being caused by the activity.

State health officials are warning of a significant uptick in the number of mumps cases in parts of Nebraska. Authorities say at least 30 cases have been identified in two recent outbreaks of the disease. The first outbreak appears to have originated somewhere in Cedar, Dixon, Thurston or Wayne counties. The second arose from somewhere in Butler, Polk, York and/or Seward counties. Health officials say mumps is spread by coughing, sneezing and sharing saliva. Symptoms include the swelling of glands in the face and neck, as well as jaw and testicular pain, ear-ache, fatigue, muscle ache

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Education Department intends to provide school districts with guidance on students' sunscreen use during the school year.

Officials say various districts have wrestled with the issue and have sought state direction.

Rules vary from district to district. Some require the sunscreen be sent from home and require parents to sign permission notes guiding administrators on application. Some require notes from doctors and some don't. Some districts have no policies at all.

(Lincoln, NE) -- A possible norovirus outbreak is under investigation at a Lincoln school. Officials say more than 140 students were absent from class at West Lincoln Elementary on Friday, which is more than one-fourth of the total student enrollment. The Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department says the exact illness will not be known until testing is complete, but the symptoms resemble norovirus. Symptoms of the contagious virus include diarrhea, nausea, stomach pain and vomiting.